Lose weight while you sleep ... really

It may sound like the Holy Grail of weight loss, but you really can burn fat while you rest. This doesn’t mean you don’t have to put in a little effort first, but armed with a few key facts, the effort you do put in will reward you with an accelerated ability to keep burning fat even when you’re lying in bed counting sheep. All it takes is a little boost to your metabolism.

Step 1

Exercise for at least nine hours a week. Aerobic and cardio exercise like walking or swimming raises your metabolic rate as the body burns calories to turn into fuel for energy. Frequent exercise also lowers overall body fat and fat mass percentage, meaning less built-up fat to burn and more daily calories consumed.

Step 2

Lift weights and perform strength-training exercises such as isometric exercise at least three times per week to build muscle. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, meaning that building muscle increases your resting metabolic rate during periods of inactivity. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn for energy, even when at rest, because muscles require energy to maintain.

Step 3

Stay cold wherever possible. Fat cells sense a drop in temperature and release energy as heat to help keep the body warm. Drink cold water and eat frozen fruit during the day. Resist the urge to turn up the heat in the winter.

Step 4

Eat almonds, apples, grapefruit, pears, beans, broccoli and spinach to boost your metabolism. These foods are harder for the body to digest and release energy over a long period of time.

Step 5

Add curry and hot peppers to your diet, as both are hard for the body to metabolize long after they’ve been eaten. Eat low-fat yogurt, which is high in protein and burns more calories to digest while you rest.

Step 6

Drink more water. Water helps to burn calories (thermogenesis), a key stage in the metabolic process. An increase in metabolism will burn what you’ve eaten during the day at a quicker rate and will result in excess fat being burned when the daily food supply has run out.

Step 7

Drink green tea and coffee. Green tea extract and caffeine improve weight loss and boost metabolism through fat oxidation -- breaking down fat cells -- and thermogenesis.

There you have it. Do those seven things and your metabolism will hum while you sleep. Now get to work. Then get to sleep.

Read or Share this story: http://on.flatoday.com/2ArMQmE

Let's block ads!(Why?)

http://ift.tt/2o4ueaz

Let's block ads! (Why?)